7 spanking new watches for the alpha male

With these bad boys on your wrist, there's no questioning your boss status

There’s something emasculating about the term “unisex watch” — a rather lazy categorization for a timepiece that doesn’t fully assign it a strong and definitive identity. Which is why today GQ went hunting for alpha male wristwatches at the ongoing luxury watch fair, the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva. Here are three steroid-addled timepieces that completely blew our minds.

1/7

Richard Mille

Mr Richard Mille is an aviation buff. Recently, he successfully bid for the entire service manual of the Concorde at an auction. His eponymous brand has paid tribute to his passion for aviation by unveiling this RM 50-02 ACJ Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph for Airbus Corporate Jets. This ballistic timepiece has several design cues that are inspired by the jets – the curved rectangular dial is shaped like the window of an aircraft, there’s the Airbus branding on the crown, and the screws used to lock down the case are designed by Airbus and visible on the bezel. This timepiece is limited to just 30, and you have to be a multi-millionaire (at the very least) to afford this watch that’s priced at EUR 1.16million.

Panerai

If there’s one watch brand that’s effortlessly cool, it’s Panerai. You can attribute that to the fact that it was once an exclusively military watchmaker whose timepieces weren’t sold to civvies, or to the fact that when it did start selling to civilians, guys like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were early adopters. This year’s Lo Scienziato 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio is a 48mm beast of a watch, and is our pick of the most badass from Panerai’s novelties for 2016. Kitted with an in-house movement that has a 144-hour power reserve, this watch has no dial at all – instead, using 3D printing and laser tech, Panerai has etched the movement itself to indicate the time on the face of the watch.

Roger Dubuis

Nearly all of this year’s novelties from Roger Dubuis were designed for women. There were just a handful of watches for men, and this Genevean manufacture nailed it with the Excalibur Automatic Skeleton Carbon timepiece. Although this watch first broke cover last year, it’s been redesigned in a new case material – the entire case is now made from carbon. Carbon is lighter and tougher than titanium, making it the latest high-end material that top watchmakers are clamouring to innovate within their watches. Of course, the movement is a complete manufacture in-house movement, and this Skeleton Carbon wristwatch, like every single of RD timepiece, bears the Hallmark of Geneva seal – the independent certification that a watch meets the most stringent levels of aesthetic quality and mechanical accuracy among all Swiss watchmakers.

MB&F

It’s tough to call this a wristwatch because it looks nothing like one. So let’s just call this HM6SV a mechanical machine that also tells the time. It’s an incredible complex, with over a month required just to machine and polish the bulbous sapphire case. The movement remains the same as in the original HM6, but that blue line on the dial now means that the case is sealed and is water resistant upto 30 metres. But really, you aren’t going to dare want to try and go anywhere near that depth with this $368,000 beast.

Audemars Piguet

Last year, Audemars Piguet revealed that they were working on a minute repeater that would blow the other right out of the room. This year, it debuted the Royal Oak Concept (not really a concept, but rather a production-ready watch) Super Sonnerie timepiece. We had a listen to it and we can say that this is probably one of the most resonant and loudest minute repeaters we’ve seen in a long while. The massive, edgy titanium case houses a tourbillon and chrono too. Production of this watch that has an all-new gong and striking mechanism to achieve this specific timbre for a minute repeater is limited to just 50, with each wristwatch priced at nearly $550,000 a pop.

Urwerk

Urwerk is a Zurich-Geneva based independent brand that’s silently throwing up some spectacular watches. There are just 15 employees in the brand and they have an annual production of 150 watches at an average price of $80,000. This new EMC Time Hunter is a great watch with a tough take-no-prisoners military vibe. The 43mm wide case is made from grade 5 titanium and additionally coated with ceramic too. Interestingly, at 11 o’clock you’ll see the precision amplitude calculator. In short, it’ll indicate whether the timepiece is receiving less power from the movement and needs to therefore go in for a service. There will be just 30 of these made, with the prices of each varying from $110,000 to $115,000.

Parmigiani Fleurier

This Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Super Sport Sapphire is a unique piece – there’s just one of this that’s up for sale and priced at $550,000. Of course, Parmigiani first partnered with Bugatti in 2004 when it manufactured the world’s first wristwatch transverse movement. The case of this watch has been designed to resemble that of a classic voluptuous Bugatti. The in-house manufacture movement has a power reserve of 10 days.